Maarek hob
France / Belgium / Lebanon,
2004, 90 min
Shown in 2005
CREDITS
- dir
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Danielle Arbid
- prod
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Jérôme Vidal
- scr
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Danielle Arbid
- cam
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Hélène Louvard
- editor
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Nelly Quettier
- cast
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Carmen Lebbos, Aouni Kawass, Laudi Arbid, Rawia Elchab
- source
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Bavaria Film International, Bavariafilmplatz 8, Geiselgasteig 82031, Germany. FAX: 49-89-6499-37-20. EMAIL: manfredgiftthaler@bavaria-film.de.
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COMMENTS
Skyy Prize contender. Danielle Arbid in person.
OTHER
In stifling interiors filled with callousness, deceit, lies and betrayals, Lebanese first-time feature director Danielle Arbid creates a multilayered, precarious world for her young 12-year-old protagonist Lina to circumnavigate. Perilously balanced between kindness and cruelty, childhood and adulthood, Lina faces a challenging adolescence in the city of Beirut in 1983, where her family lives in the house of her brooding aunt Yvonne. Instead of pulling together in the face of the civil war raging outside, Lina’s family tears itself to pieces. Lina’s philandering father has a violent temper and a gambling addiction that is dragging his family into debt. Lina’s pregnant mother is so exasperated that she begs her husband to swear abstinence before their Catholic priest. Lina takes solace in her relationship with her tyrannical aunt’s impetuous 18-year-old Syrian maid Siham, who lets Lina accompany her on trysts with her handsome boyfriends and helps introduce her to the world of adult sexuality. This subtle and unsentimental coming-of-age story is set in an almost absurdly dysfunctional household, thrown against the backdrop of a seemingly unending war. Lina would much rather focus on the erotic escapades of Siham than dwell on her troubles, though she has grown up knowing only a life defined by two wars: the one on the streets and the one inside her house. Wise beyond her years, Lina maintains a secret, rich interior world, but is it enough to shelter her from the terrible world around her?
—Molli Amara Simon
FACTOID #49
Some of the filmmakers whose works screened in our New Directors series include Cinda Firestone, Susan Sontag, Shu Shuen, Conrad Rooks, Shirley Clarke, Sandro Franchina, and Mitsuo Yanagimachi. This series, which began in 1965, was a predecessor to the New Directors series at Lincoln Center, which started in 1971.
